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honeyleesblog · 2 years ago

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June 18 ZODIAC

They tirelessly gather their background, happily sharing their outcomes. They can handily offer their viewpoints and shape them smoothly. They take incredible consideration of their standing, battling for their current circumstance. They like to talk. They can capably introduce their own perspectives, yet they ought to have the option to find out about their environmental factors sooner. They could do without the organization of lacking people, those with little instruction or words. They happily make wisecracks and giggle at others, their amusing potential is very huge. His character frequently falters and changes. Nonetheless, in spite of their fluctuation, they generally like opportunity. For instance, they should have the option to follow up on their own insight. Their blemishes incorporate unreasonable shakiness, and when inappropriately created, they express a lot of verbosity. The ethically oblivious person might change his material necessities. As far as wellbeing, they are at risk for experiencing lung afflictions, anxious circumstances and blood infections. They handily advance in all life circumstances. These individuals are prepared to guard your inclinations whenever. June 18 ZODIAC

In the event that your birthday is June 18, your zodiac sign is Gemini June 18 - character and character character: unselfish, astute, unpretentious, savage, requesting, shameless calling: technician, janitor, clerk tones: orange, cyan, dim stone: opal creature: swan plant: hackberry fortunate numbers: 9,17,25,45,48,55 very fortunate number: 13 Occasions and observances - June 18 Practical Gastronomy Day Mentally unbalanced Pride Day June 18 Superstar birthday celebrations. Who was conceived that very day as you? 1901: Anastasia Nikolayevna of Russia, Russian Duchess (d. 1918). 1903: Jeanette MacDonald, American entertainer and vocalist (d. 1965). 1903: Raymond Radiguet, French author (d. 1923). 1904: Keye Luke, Chinese entertainer (d. 1991). 1904: Manuel Rosenthal, French arranger (f. 2003). 1907: Frithjof Schuon, Swiss artist and painter (d. 1998). 1908: Stanley Knowles, Canadian legislator (d. 1997). 1908: Nedra Volz, American entertainer (f. 2003). 1910: Dick Foran, American entertainer (d. 1979). 1910: EG Marshall, American entertainer (d. 1998). 1910: Beam McKinley, American jazz drummer (d. 1995). 1913: Pierre Beres, French book shop and gatherer (d. 2008). 1913: Sammy Cahn, American arranger (f. 1993). 1914: Efraდn Huerta, Mexican artist (d. 1982). 1916: Julio Cდ©sar Turbay, Colombian legislator (d. 2005). 1917: Richard Boone, American entertainer (d. 1981). 1917: Erik Ortvad, Danish painter (d. 2008). 1918: Jerome Karle, American scientist, Nobel Prize in Science in 1985. (f. 2013) 1918: Franco Modigliani, Italian business analyst, Nobel Prize in Financial matters in 1985 (f. 2003). 1922: Henri Chopin, French cutting edge writer and artist (d. 2008). 1923: Juan Arza, Spanish soccer player and mentor (d. 2011). 1923: Josდ© Luis Ozores, Spanish entertainer (d. 1968). 1924: George Mikan, American ball player (d. 2005). 1925: Anderssen Banchero, Uruguayan essayist (d. 1987). 1926: Allan Rex Sandage, American cosmologist (d. 2010). 1929: Jდ¼rgen Habermas, German social scientist and rationalist. 1931: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazilian social scientist and teacher, president somewhere in the range of 1995 and 2003. 1932: Dudley R. Herschbach, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Science in 1986. 1932: Geoffrey Slope, English artist. 1934: Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese manga craftsman (d. 2004). 1935: Hugh McColl, American financier. 1935: Omar Ostuni, Uruguayan writer, instructor, entertainer and theater chief (d. 2012). 1935: Sergio Vilar, Spanish author. 1936: Denny Hulme, New Zealand engine hustling driver (d. 1992). 1937: Vitali Zholobov, Soviet cosmonaut. 1938: Julio Ernesto Vila, Argentine games writer (d. 2013). 1940: Miguel Herrero and Rodrდguez de Minდ³n, Spanish legislator. 1941: Marდa Teresa Campos, Spanish writer. 1942: Roger Ebert, American film pundit. 1942: Thabo Mbeki, South African legislator, president 1999-2008. 1942: Paul McCartney, English performer, of the band The Beatles. 1943: Raffaella Carra, vocalist and Italian TV moderator. 1943: Eva Marton, Hungarian soprano. 1944: Salvador Sდ¡nchez Cerდ©n, Salvadoran legislator and progressive, leader of his country. 1946: Maria Bethდ¢nia, Brazilian vocalist. 1946: Fabio Capello, Italian footballer and mentor. 1948: Raდºl Rizzo, Argentine entertainer. 1949: Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican performer (f. 1999). 1949: Chris Van Allsburg, American creator and artist. 1949: Lech Kaczyვ„ski, Clean legislator and president. 1949: Jarosვ‚aw Kaczyვ„ski, Clean legislator and state leader, twin sibling of President Lech Kaczyვ„ski. 1950: Susana Estrada, Spanish entertainer, vedette and artist. 1950: Carlos Ominami, Chilean financial expert and legislator. 1952: Marcella Bella, Italian artist. 1952: Josდ© Marდa Bermდºdez de Castro, Spanish scientist. 1952: Hymn Kane, American entertainer. 1952: Isabella Rossellini, Italian entertainer and model. 1957: Miguel დ?ngel Lotina, Spanish footballer and mentor. 1958: Marisela Buitrago, first Venezuelan TV entertainer.? 1960: Vდctor Hugo Carrizo, Argentine entertainer (d. 2012). 1960: Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Somali lawmaker and state head. 1961: Andrდ©s Galarraga, Venezuelan baseball player 1961: Alison Moyet, English artist lyricist. 1962: Mitsuharu Misawa, Japanese warrior. 1963: Ariel Cuffaro Russo, Argentine footballer and mentor. 1963: Bleary eyed Reed, American keyboardist, of the groups Weapons N 'Roses and Velvet Gun. 1964: Uday Hussein, Iraqi pioneer (d. 2003). 1966: Silvina Bosco, Argentine entertainer. 1966: Antonio Martდn, Spanish ball player. 1968: Marcelo de Bellis, Argentine entertainer 1968: Ana Duato, Spanish entertainer. 1969: Vito LoGrasso, American grappler. 1969: Buddy Pot Pamparius, Norwegian artist, of the band Turbonegro. 1970: Gerardo Rozდn, Argentine columnist and radio and TV moderator. 1971: Jorge Bermდºdez, Colombian footballer. 1971: Jason McAteer, Irish footballer. 1974: Carlos Mდ©ndez, Venezuelan baseball player. 1974: Vincenzo Montella, Italian footballer. 1974: Pablo Polilla Pino, Argentine artist, of the band Cielo Razzo. 1975: Jamel Debbouze, French entertainer. 1976: Alana de la Garza, American entertainer. 1976: Blake Shelton, American artist. 1976: Luca Valdesi, Italian karateka. 1977: Majed Moqed, Saudi psychological oppressor who took part in 9/11 (f. 2001). 1978: Pol Amat Spanish field hockey player. 1978: Luca Dirisio, Italian vocalist lyricist. 1978: Wang Liqin, Chinese pingpong player. 1981: Ella Chen, Taiwanese vocalist, of the band SHE. 1982: Marco Borriello, Italian footballer. 1982: Vadim Pruzhanov, Russian keyboardist, of the band Dragonforce. 1983: Liz Solari, Argentine model. 1984: Mateus Galiano da Costa, Angolan footballer. 1985: Alex Hirsch, American chief, author, realistic essayist and voice entertainer. 1986: Richard Gasquet, French tennis player. 1986: Richard Infuriate, English entertainer 1986: Andrei Volokitin, Ukrainian chess player. 1987: Marcelo Martins, Bolivian soccer player. 1988: Josh Dun, American performer, of the band 21 Pilots. 1989: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabonese footballer. 1989: Renee Olstead, American entertainer and vocalist. 1991: Willa Holland, American entertainer. 1996: Alen Halilovic, Croatian footballer.

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greenhatsinthesky · 4 years ago

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lockdown film no. 28 - Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007) dir. Steve Bendelack

24/04/2020

because I am An Adult, this was the film that me and my parents decided to watch for my birthday this year. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening given I hadn’t seen it in several years and we got a takeaway from the best pizza place around and my dad bought wildly overpriced vegan ben and Jerrys

- when mr bean wins the raffle its actually very heartwarming how happy everyone is for him

- THE TRAIN TRANSITION HOLY HELL

- im absolutely in love with all the the video camera footage they use

- “un café?” “oui” “du sucre?” “non” “you speak very good French” “gracias”

- last year for a film project we had to make a short film with only 20 words of dialogue and this is actually a great example of how to do it because he never really uses words its mainly just sounds

- the soundtrack in this is absolutely boss no lie

- i went on holiday with my friends last year to an island that was so small you could walk around the whole thing at least five times in a day, and also had basically no buildings. And so from there the concept of ‘mr beaning it’ was born, where you pick where you want to go and walk in a straight line in that direction

- the fact that this was the first film I saw Willem Dafoe in is hilarious to me because he’s such a serious actor and then there’s this. I saw this, Spiderman and then Mississippi burning and man that really threw me off

- ties and vending machines are a health risk

- richard curtis worked on this ??

- the plateau de fruits de mer scene absolutely sent my entire family it is just the peak of comedy. Me and my mum saw the film for the first time in a cinema when I was about eight and it just gets us every time

- THE OYSTER WHEN IT MOVES

- apparently the guy who plays the waiter in that scene is a very celebrated actor in France and he’s done loads of serious stuff so this is another kind of Willem dafoe situation it seems

- the boy playing Stepan was Viktor in the series years and years and when I say that absolutely blew my mind when I found out

- the scene where Stepan copies mr bean and they’re crossing their legs is so cute and a bit of nice light humour before the real shit kicks in

- I know it wouldn’t work if they could call the dad straight away but the two numbers at the end are clearly 97

- THE HOTEL WORKER WITH THE PHONE WHAT PAIN THEY WERE SO CLOSE

- ohhhhhh the market scene. whoever came up with the idea for that should get an Oscar

- mans got some strong legs holding a squat for the whole of rondo alla turca

- i think the opera scene in the market (i don’t know the name of the piece) is one of the funniest scenes in the whole film if not in a lot of films. Its absolute class and I love how mr bean, who doesn’t speak a full sentence for the majority of the film all of a sudden knows every word to an Italian opera. Also the scene that they construct and play out is actually very emotional and they both end up dead but its still funny ?

- stepan really just yeeted the camera at a total stranger now that is some faith in humanity right there

- I wanna grab onto a car while riding someone else’s bike in the middle of the French countryside and go zOOM past the tour de France

- the chickens cluck in tune with the song and I personally am a huge fan of that

- I think rowan atkinsons face is made of rubber or something

- he goes into that little hut and the vehicles gradually get more and more absurd like tHIS IS HOW YOU DO COMEDY

- I don’t think they went into how fucking weird it would be to fall asleep and wake up under a cart in a French village that turns out to be under siege by nazis

- also, I know Carson Clay is meant to be a parody of a Hollywood director, but I just want to know what happens at the end of the advert. Does sabine end the war and appease the nazis with yoghurt?

- Une minuscule explosion?

- Sabine was super chill about them using her phone to call basically everyone in France

- the car scene with the matches has absolutely gone down in history. Literally every time were driving at night someone will mention that scene

- the French translator at Cannes was hilarious like clay said his bit, looked over at the guy, the guy sort of cringes (?) and goes “he says it is a very good film”

- all the scenes we see from playback time get me every time and I’m pretty sure its one of my dads favourite scenes

- nothingnothing nothing nothing n o t h i n g

- OHHHH when the fam gets back together ! So wholesome!

- la mer. what a tune, and all the things lining up so he can just walk straight down to the sea I lOVE

- oh man what a good film

- its just a great comfort film and its so funny but its really warm as well and its not cheesy but its really funny and I love it

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blastikmusik · 5 years ago

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Lechner & Trabitsch & Bethlehem Allstars - Maria durch ein' Dornwald ging Puddles Pity party - LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (More cowbell version) Rosemary Squires - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year George Cates And His Orchestra - Sleigh Ride Santa Claws And The Naughty But Nice Orchestra - For Whom The Bell Tolls US Killbotics - Carol Of The Bells Tom Rosenthal - The Only Time Im Home (Live Acoustic) toys ost - the closing of the year (instrumental) Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Jingle Bells STING - There Is No Rose Of Such Virtue The Boston Pops Orch w. Arthur Fiedler - Sleigh Ride Ray Charles - Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer The Pogues & Kirsty Mccoll - Fairytale Of New York Matt Monro - Mary's boy child Richard Cheese - I Melt With You Lechner & Trabitsch & Bethlehem Allstars - Wer klopfet an Cliff Richard - Mistletoe & Wine Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians - Jingle Bells Gene Autry - Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Anita Kerr Singers - On This Holy Night Bobby Helms - Jingle bell rock

free download: https://app.box.com/s/24xgpz5rd5uuuhyqlb22or9btzwank5d want to support me? get me some coffe at http://ko-fi.com/blastik or www.paypal.me/KAYLEPH

#music #mixtapes #mixtape #christmas #weihnachten #noel #navidad #advent #Adventkalender #adventcalendar #adventskalender #bonus

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kwebtv · 6 years ago

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Monday Monday - ITV UTV - July 13, 2009 - August 24, 2009

Comedy / Drama (7 episodes)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Management

Clive Merrison as Gavin

Peter Wight as Roger Sorsby

Jenny Agutter as Jenny Mountfield

Holly Aird as Alyson Cartmell

Tom Ellis as Steven McColl

Human Resources

Fay Ripley as Christine France

Morven Christie as Sally Newman

Miranda Hart as Tall Karen

Jodie Taibi as Small Karen

Marketing

Neil Stuke as Max Chambers

Laura Haddock as Natasha Wright

Saikat Ahamed as Vince

Finance

Nick Sampson as Keith Saunders

Building Services & Facilities Management

Joan Oliver as Susan

Susan Earl as Janet

Shop Floor

Sue Vincent as Helen

Bruce McGregor as Greg

Richard Fleeshman as Gillon

#Monday Monday #mtv #ITV #UTV #2000's #Comedy #Drama #Jenny Agutter #Holly Aird #Morven Christie #Tom Ellis #Laura Haddock #Fay Ripley #Neil Stuke #Peter Wight

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whatsonmedia · 2 years ago

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Music Monday: Hitlist Of the Week!

Adam Humphries, the editor of WhatsOn, has compiled this week’s Christmas special songs. There is something magical about music that can revitalize and cure the soul while also igniting new hope. Here is the weekly music selection for you to enjoy and add to your playlist. The Pogues & Kirsty McColl - Fairytale of New York Released in 1988 is the ever-infamous Christmas Stewart featuring British singer-songwriter Kirsty McColl and Irish folk punk band The Pogues. The song is the tale of a romance between two lovers whose romance turns sour during which point the song becomes more of a comical argument. The song is as comical as it is entertaining. And years later cause a commotion in the LGBT+ Community with the word 'Faggot'. The ironic thing is that the word Slut is used yeah no one seems to get all worked up over that one. I'm just going to say here now as a Gay/Autistic man I have no issue with the word faggot being used in the song https://youtu.be/j9jbdgZidu8 Wham - Last Christmas Originally released in 1983 but then re-belief to get 1986 is the infamous song by British band Wham. The song is more of a milestone achievement for George Michael as his ability as a songwriter comes through here. Last Christmas is about the aftermath of a breakup of a relationship from the previous year. And is told from the man's perspective. Within the first few lines. It's about exes who meet up, and its clear there's still tension, as the man gave the girlfriend his love only for her to cheat on him the next day https://youtu.be/E8gmARGvPlI "Last Christmas I gave you my heart but the very next day you gave it away/But this year to save me from tears I'll give it to someone special" Band Aid (83) - Do They Know it’s Christmas? Released in 1983 and is still as infamous as ever. Do They Know it’s Christmas is the brainchild of Boomtown Rats frontman Sir Bob Geldof. Geldof made the song in wake of the news footage of the famine in Ethiopia. And he decided to bring together many other artists together to make the now-infamous tune; Bananarama, Duran Duran, Culture Club and U2 to name but a few. The words of the song are a direct reference to the suffering faced by the people of Ethiopia "Here's to them under that burning sun, do they know it's Christmas time at all" https://youtu.be/j3fSknbR7Y4 The song was sampled in a Christmas edition of the British sitcom Gavin and Stacey Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody Made way back in 1973 and was released as a single-only Merry Christmas Everybody is that sort of song. And which many people will still be along to regardless of whatever age they are. The song is written by Slade frontman Noddy Holder. It is about the ever-typical day in the life of a family on Christmas Day. The writing is as witty as it is genius as nearly everything that is mentioned is pretty much what so many families do every year at Christmas "Are you waiting for the family to arrive?" "Does your granny always tell ya that the old songs are the best?" However, what it is that everyone always waits for is the bit at the end when Noddy shouts "It's Christmas" The song was sampled in the 1991 film by Richard Curtis Bernard and the Genie https://youtu.be/cWgwTe01kMU Read the full article

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trustglobe · 2 years ago

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Are secret agents true

I Wei Huang via ShutterstockĪs the MI6 website explains: “Agents are at the heart of what MI6 does. Wouldn’t get through our recruitment process … whilst we share his qualities of patriotism, energy and tenacity, an intelligence officer in the real MI6 has a high degree of emotional intelligence, values teamwork and always has respect for the law… unlike Mr Bond.īond’s “severe chronic alcohol problem”, as recently diagnosed by the Medical Journal of Australia, probably wouldn’t help his case, either.Ī far cry from the ‘Circus’: MI6 headquarters in London. In October 2016, the current chief of SIS, Sir Alex Younger, explained that James Bond: More recently, SIS has made efforts to distance itself from the fictional secret agent. But it’s likely that the image of the martini-drinking, fast car driving Bond was attracting the wrong type of applicant. Sir Colin McColl, chief of SIS from 1989 to 1994, once described the most well-known fictional secret agent, James Bond, as “the best recruiting sergeant in the world”. The blurring of intelligence fiction and intelligence fact has long been a double-edged sword for the real world of British intelligence, particularly in terms of its impact upon recruitment. Sir Richard Dearlove, a former chief of the Secret Intelligence Service – SIS or MI6 – recently launched a critical broadside at John le Carré, accusing the acclaimed author of award winning spy fiction of producing “corrosive” novels that “are exclusively about betrayal”.

#Are secret agents true

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mcolbert440 · 3 years ago

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SCHOLARLY REFERENCES

Caicedo, Carmen. 2014. “Families With Special Needs Children: Family Health, Functioning, and Care Burden.” Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. 20(6): 398-407.

Fortier, Laurie, Richard Wanlass. 1984. “Family Crisis Following the Diagnosis of a Handicapped Child.” Family Relations. 33(1): 13.

McColl, Mary Ann, Donna Foster, et. al. 2008. “Physician Experiences Providing Primary Care to People with Disabilities.” Healthcare Policy. 4(1): 129.

Niedbalski, Jakub. 2021. “Managing Stigma-the Experiences of Parents of Children with Intellectual Disability.” Polish Sociological Review. 215 (3): 337-404.

Nikolaraizi, Magda, Poonam Kumar, et. al. 2005. “A Cross-Cultural Examination of Typically Developing Children’s Attitudes towards Individuals with Special Needs.” International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education. 52 (2): 101-119

Starke, Mikaela, Anders Moller. 2002. “Parents’ Needs for Knowledge Concerning the Medical Diagnosis of Their Children.” Journal of Child Health Care. 6 (4): 245-257.

Velho, Raquel, Catherine Holloway, et. al. 2016. "The Effect of Transport Accessibility on the Social Inclusion of Wheelchair Users: A Mixed Method Analysis." Social Inclusion 4(3): 24-35.

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creativespark · 7 years ago

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One of Bogotá’s interesting murals. (Photo: Richard McColl)

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casaamarilla · 23 days ago

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youtube

the Colombia Calling podcast with Richard McColl and Emily Hart discussing lies and disinformation in Colombia.

#youtube

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toldnews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/christmas-on-the-high-street-retail-winners-and-losers/

Christmas on the High Street: Retail winners and losers

Image copyright Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Many of the UK’s largest shopping chains have reported Christmas sales and it’s a very mixed picture.

While the trade body for shops, the British Retail Consortium, said it’s been the worst Christmas for retailers in 10 years, some shops have had a relatively good festive period.

“Retail is facing the most disruption it’s ever faced,” says Alan O’Neill, who was hired at Selfridges as a consultant when it was bought by the Weston family in 2003.

So whose tills overflowed with Christmas cheer and whose takings resembled an empty stocking?

The sales figures in the graphic above cover different reporting periods as the companies follow no convention on what constitutes the Christmas season.

Winners

Image copyright AFP/UIG via Getty Images

Morrisons and Tesco

Contrary to the usual theme of mid-market stores being squeezed, Tesco and Morrisons both posted increases in sales. Both were helped out by sales outside their superstores.

Morrisons said sales rose 3.6% in the nine weeks to 6 January. A 3% rise in the wholesale division, which supplies Amazon and McColls, assisted its growth. In the stores, sales rose 0.6%

Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, beat forecasts with a 2.2% rise in comparable sales for the six weeks to 5 January. That beat City estimates of up to 1.5%.

“It looks like Christmas delivered the goods for Tesco,” says Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “Of course, the coast isn’t totally clear – Aldi and Lidl are moving in on market share.”

However, Tesco and Morrisons may merely have “bounced back” from the ground lost last year, which was particularly hard on the superstores, warns retail consultant Clare Bailey.

Image copyright Getty Images/AFP

Aldi and Lidl

German discount supermarket chain Aldi said it made almost £1bn in sales during December in its best-ever Christmas trading, with sales 10% higher than the previous year. Lidl sales jumped 16%.

According to data from market researchers Kantar, Aldi and Lidl had a combined market share of 12.7% over the 12-week festive period, their highest-ever for Christmas.

Two-thirds of all households shopped at either Aldi or Lidl over that time, Kantar said.

Image copyright Getty Images

Selfridges

Selfridges reported sales up 8% in the first 24 days of December.

The department store said it helped draw customers through various entertainments including a Christmas cabaret, confetti cannons, visits from Father Christmas and choirs. A five-year £300m refit of its flagship London store is also under way.

Losers

Image copyright AFP

Debenhams and Marks & Spencer

The two department stores, with more than 300 years of history between them, had a tough Christmas. Debenhams, which is shutting 50 stores, said sales in the six weeks to 5 Jan dropped 3.4%. Customers were in a bargain-hunting mood, it said. Over the longer 18-week trading period, sales fell 5.7%.

Mild weather and promotions were blamed by Marks & Spencer for a sales drop of 2.2% in the 13 weeks to 29 December. Food sales fell 2.1% and its clothing and home sales division slid 2.4%.

“Their proposition is just no longer relevant to their audience,” says Bill Grimsey, former chief executive of Wickes, Iceland and Focus DIY, and author of two reviews of the High Street. “For Marks & Spencer, Next is doing a better job and in Debenhams’ case the 1980s aren’t here today.”

Discounting products “isn’t working” for either store, he adds.

Image copyright Getty Images

Mothercare

Mothercare blamed a “difficult consumer backdrop” for a fall in sales in the UK in its last quarter. Sales fell 11.4% and online sales dropped more, by 16.3%, the firm said on Wednesday. It has discounted less of its stock this year, it added.

The business is closing 36 stores and by the end of March, there will be 79 stores, down from 137 in May 2018.

Image copyright Getty Images

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s has seen sales fall over Christmas after non-food trading was hit.

Sales, excluding takings from stores open less than a year, fell by 1.1% across the Christmas period.

General merchandise sales, including at Sainsbury’s-owned Argos, fell by 2.3% and overall clothing sales by 0.2%.

There was speculation that Argos could have benefited from the demise of Toys R Us, which collapsed last year. But this boost didn’t materialise, says retail consultant Clare Bailey, which could be down to changing trends in toy buying, including demand for tech-based presents.

Image copyright Getty Images

Halfords

Halfords issued a profit warning after sales at established stores fell 1.7% for the 14 weeks to 4 January.

The car and bike parts shop blamed mild winter weather in November and December, as motoring-related sales led the decline, dropping 3.4%.

Image copyright Getty Images

HMV

It is perhaps a glib move to include the music retailer, but HMV was among the more severe losers after calling in administrators for the second time in six years, involving 2,200 staff at 125 stores.

Owners Hilco, which took the company out of its first administration in 2013, blamed a “tsunami” of retail challenges.

What to look out for in 2019

Shops doing poorly are probably led by complacent management who “don’t take the risks they need to take”, says Alan O’Neill, the former Selfridges consultant.

His advice for them is to cut excess shopping space, negotiate with landlords, expand online rather than admitting defeat to online-only stores like Asos, and to stop discounting as a promotional tool. Instead, make use of January sales to shift old stock.

Shops doing well are taking risks with clever campaigns and spending money on high-quality stores, products and service.

Cutting costs from staff to product quality is also hurting retail sales and ultimately profit, says retail industry consultant Richard Hyman.

“It’s not difficult to cut costs in a business,” he said, but it is hard to do it without shrinking sales.

Regular business-watchers will have noted that these updates are for sales only – no mention of profit. And that they are published very quickly after the event.

“The fact that these numbers are unaudited and unregulated, and so much store is set by them, is a disconnect,” says Mr Hyman. “We need these numbers to be regulated and to be audited.

“The real proof of the pudding will be in April,” he told the BBC, when audited results will be available, and, crucially, profit numbers, which will show what effect discounts will have had.

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bootandbradford · 8 years ago

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Redo

Okay, so little side note. I haven’t written much of anything in the past 4 or 5 years, so this fic is probably going to be rusty and possibly awful. But, I couldn’t think of a better way to get back into writing than writing about my new OTP Omelia. That being said, here is the inspiration of this prompt: What if Owen and Amelia really decided to “redo” their relationship starting at the end of 12x12 and the situation in 12x15 never happened? That is what this fic will entail, be warned that this fic is quite lengthy. Enjoy!

After an exciting start to her day, Amelia Shepherd arrived to work considerably late. On a mission not to get caught by anyone (especially not her sisters), she ran into the attendings lounge and started to promptly undress as soon as she was in the room. But, much to her dismay, she was caught red-handed when she turned around and realized that her sister Maggie was standing in that same room and witnessed the entire ordeal. Considerably embarrassed, Amelia felt the need to tell her currently surprised sister just what happened this morning leading up to this exact moment.

But before Amelia could even start to explain, Maggie questioned her sister about her erratic behavior by asking “Are you drunk?”

To which Amelia immediately countered her statement and told her “No! I was in a hurry because I was late. And the reason I was late was because Owen’s trailer is very dark, and I couldn’t find my boot.”

Maggie wasn’t completely sold on Amelia’s explanation. So, she further questioned if there were any other reasons as to why she was late.

Amelia stopped what she was doing right at that second and immediately regretted having said anything to her in the first place.

Maggie caught on to her hesitant reply, and asked point blank: “Were you late because you and Owen were having sex?”

Amelia finally gave in and admitted that She and Owen had been having sex when she realized how late she was.

Maggie laughed as her suspicions were confirmed.

Amelia could already tell this day was off to a curious start.

Later on that same day, while looking over scans, Amelia sensed that someone was behind her watching. Her suspicions were confirmed when she came face-to-face with a certain ginger.

Thinking about the events this morning, Amelia asked Owen if he had found the boot that she left at the trailer this morning. Owen promptly replied that he had found the boot and would give it to her after their shifts ended tonight.

Sensing some uneasiness from Amelia, Owen glanced at the scans in front of her and began to wonder why she was so worried.

“Is everything okay? Do you want some help?” Owen obliged to Amelia.

“I just have this feeling that I’m going to kill this girl [Katie Bryce].” Amelia replied.

After hearing this statement Owen became slightly confused as Amelia was doubting her abilities as a neurosurgeon.

Noticing Owen’s confusion, Amelia further explained her feelings toward this particular surgery. “I’ve been trying to distance myself from cases like this ever since my relapse, but then today, this girl arrives with a live grenade in her head and she also happens to be Derek and Meredith’s surgical lovechild” Amelia admitted uneasily.

Owen took a second before adding: “Amelia, who cares what Meredith thinks, she’s not a neurosurgeon, you are. The only reason you are feeling this was is because your brother’s and her name is on the file. If any other surgeon’s name was on it, you wouldn’t be feeling this way.”

Amelia contemplated Owen’s statement and realized that he was right. Why would she listen to anything Meredith has to say about her work. Afterall, she removed Nicole Herman’s tumor despite all of the backlash she received.

After her surgery, Amelia made her way to an on-call room to change and go home. But before she could leave she needed her boot back from Owen. Right at that moment, Owen appeared in the doorway and bellowed a sincere congratulations.

Amelia tried to respond but ended up laughing. She couldn’t however avoid the elephant in the room. She made sure to quickly add: “We’re not starting something new, last night was a mistake.”

Owen chuckled momentarily before replying with: “I don’t accept that, if it were new, I wouldn’t have your boot. But, if you want to start over, and forget all of that, start fresh, if that’s easier for you, then we can do that, too.”

Amelia was stunned by Owen’s statement. But, quickly retorted: “Just like new?”

Owen affirmed his statement: “Yep, square one.”

Amelia was suddenly overcome with emotions for the man in front of her. She moved forward in hope of kissing him. But she was puzzled when Owen backed away from her and started to stand up.

Owen watched Amelia’s face grow in bewilderment. He continued to add to it by saying: “What are you doing?, at least ask me out on a date first.”

Amelia was baffled by his actions and could only laugh.

The next week went by quick, partially due to the fact that Amelia and Owen had limited interactions. But also because they were both on-call almost every single night the past week.

But, Owen was determined to spend some quality time with her. Tonight he had a surprise for Amelia.

Amelia’s day started out pretty great. But she was in for a couple of surprises herself.

Before Amelia could get her surprise from Richard Webber, Owen popped in her elevator and made some small talk before letting her in on his surprise. “Long night?”

Amelia responded by giving Owen the specs on the patient. “75-year-old man ran his car into an electrical pole. Electrocution and a big intracranial bleed. And a pacemaker implantation.”

Owen responded with a simple huh.

Amelia wondered why Owen joined her in the elevator in the first place. She remained silent and wait for him to elaborate.

Owen finally clued her in by saying the following: “Uh, so I booked a reservation around 8:00, so we should maybe head out around 7:00. That work?”

Amelia was speechless, but managed to say: “Yeah, I can do that. How fancy is this?”

Owen happily retorted: “Well, first date, so I took a big swing.”

Amelia didn’t reply, but she heartily laughed. Amelia’s jolly mood would not last for long, as another surprise was about to take her mood into a turn for the worse.

As soon as the elevator dinged, Penny Blake came through the doors and began to question the doctor in front of her. “Dr. Shepherd, is this Mr. McColl?”

Amelia was taken by surprise but replied: “Yes, Blake. Why?”

Blake continued the conversation with “The patient’s wife is downstairs”

Amelia slightly annoyed at this point asks: “Why are you telling me this? Where’s Edwards?”

Blake explained the resident switch-up: “Dr. Webber mixed us up. I pulled your service.”

Amelia was fuming at this point. So she snapped at Blake and said not so nicely: “No.”

Blake recognized Dr. Shepherd’s anger and annoyance, but carried on by retorting “No?”

Amelia sensed Blake’s confusion and continued asking: “No, where’s the wife?”

Blake finally caught on and replied: “She’s downstairs in admitting”

The elevator chimes in again, momentarily stopping the conversation.

Blake used the momentary silence to form her next sentence: “Dr. Webber told me…”

Amelia finally having enough of Blake, demanded that she “Tell Dr. Webber I said no.”

A couple of hours later, Blake was reprimanded yet again after she relayed medical information about Mr. McColl to another woman who was not his wife.

After listening to Blake make this mistake, Amelia was fed up with her. But before letting her leave Amelia snuck in “Get your facts straight before you let me go spilling medical information to just anybody. You embarrassed me.”

At this point Blake was trying to get through the rest of her day without angering Dr. Shepherd and further. So, in trying to make amends with her she “I’m sorry, she said that she was his…”

Interrupting her Amelia sneered at her and added: “Why are you even here? I said to tell Dr. Webber…”

Blake sensing her hostility, tried to explain: “Dr. Webber said that he chooses to decline your proposal.”

Amelia, still not satisfied with Blake’s explanation: “Well, then take the day off.”

Blake further explained the situation by saying: “Dr. Webber rejected that, too.”

Amelia having enough of Blake, leaves her with the following instructions: “Watch his monitors, don't touch him, and stay out of my way.”

Blake retreated to one of the only places where she could escape Dr. Shepherd’s wrath. The bathroom. When she entered, she was met with two other familiar faces, Jo Wilson and Stephanie Edwards. They too were having a hard time with the resident mixup. Stephanie Edwards was talking when she entered. “I've been urinated on three times today.” Said Stephanie disgustingly.

Jo replied with: “What did you expect from babies?”

Stephanie clarifies: “ I'm talking about puppies... dogs. There are puppies upstairs with the kids. The only thing worse than peds is peds with puppies because we're surgeons, not veterinarians, because we should not be urinated upon.”

Jo replies: “I'm being crapped on.”

After listening to their conversation, Penny decides to chime in and starts talking to Stephanie, “You have to help me with Shepherd. Shepherd wants me dead.”

Jo tries to cheer up Penny, “At least she knows who you are. Grey keeps calling me your name.”

A few minutes later, Amelia catches an elevator and comes into contact with Riggs.

He states that he is “Heading up to check on Mr. McColl’s vitals.”

Amelia mentions to Riggs: “Make sure Blake's watching monitors.”

Riggs, picking on some potential hostility: “What is Blake's problem? What don't you like about her? She seems on top of it to me, so what am I not seeing? She's... No, she's... I'm the new guy. So if she's the dead fish, I'd like to know.”

Amelia says “It's personal between her and me. You can form your own conclusions.”

Riggs jokingly replies: “Aww. That's kind of you. Must be nice for Blake.”

Amelia not catching on: “What does that mean?”

Riggs remarks: “Oh, come on. You and Hunt are obviously pretty tight. I'm sure you've formed some conclusions about me.”

Meanwhile Riggs is heading toward Mr. McColl’s room, Blake is in the room observing him as he speaks to his wife. However, in the middle of the conversation, she notices that something isn’t right. “I’m sorry guys, can I get in here for a second, please? Mr. McColl, can you squeeze my hands as hard as you can, okay?” At that moment, the monitors started to beep rather loudly. Yet, Blake continues her neuro check “Follow the light.” Just then, Dr. Riggs walks in and immediately becomes curious as to what is going on.

Riggs asks: “Blake, what is it?”

Blake informs Dr. Riggs to: “Page Shepherd immediately”

Riggs informs her that his ICP is rising.

At that moment, Blake realizes what she has to do. She has to do a ventriculostomy, and quick

Riggs questions if she can do the procedure before allowing her to do it. Blake says that she can do one. Blake realized that she’s not allowed to touch him, so she can’t perform the procedure.

“I’m not supposed to touch him.” Blake informs Riggs.

Riggs then replies: “You’re the neurosurgeon on call.”

Although she didn’t want to quarrel with an attending, she repeated what she had said before which was that she was told explicitly not to touch him. Riggs pushed her for more.

Blake recounts: “Shepherd said no, so I’m not going to drill a hole in his head.” Wanting to follow her attending orders she asks Riggs: “Would you do it please? We’re running out of time.”

Riggs impatiently says: “No, you’re running out of time Blake.”

Blake reluctantly begins the procedure.

But, before she gets anywhere, Dr. Shepherd reappears and is angrier than ever.

“What are you doing!?” She angrily asked Blake.

Blake replied what she had done prior to her storming in the room: “His ICP was through the roof, there was some evidence of herniation, so I had to drill a burr holes to…”

“Relieve the pressure. Don’t tell me what a ventric is. Why would you let her do this?” Amelia asked angrily.

“Cause she caught it, and she could do it.” Riggs replied.

Amelia signals to Blake: “Get out of my way. Get away from him.”

Amelia started walking down to the main lobby to update the patient’s wife on his condition. Riggs and Blake followed. After updating the wife, Amelia signals to Blake: “Find Edwards. Tell her to meet me in O.R One.” Blake receives the message and quickly leaves, but before she does, Riggs informs Amelia: “Shepherd, you don’t have time to go chasing around for Edwards. You need to be in there now”

Amelia hesitantly takes Riggs advice and says: “Blake, wait.”

While in surgery, Blake continued to tell Amelia just what she did this afternoon in her absence.

She continued to keep talking to Dr. Shepherd until he flatlines. Blake immediately asks if she’s done something wrong. And Amelia replies that she hasn’t, she even says: “You were perfect.”

Amelia takes some time after the surgery and lays down on one of the many cots located in the hallways. She is caught off guard when she notices Owen approaching her in non-work clothes. Oh crap. She completely forgot about their date and hadn’t changed yet.

Owen asks: “Are we not going?” after noticing Amelia had not changed yet. “We’re cancelling.”

“No, Owen I’ll rally.” She then begins to inform him about her day and about Blake.

After Amelia finished explaining, Owen realizes just how exhausted she is. He tells her that dinner’s off. But before she can walk away, he says to come with him. Amelia, not enjoying surprises, as mentioned many times throughout today reluctantly follows him. Little did she know that she would love this surprise.

When arriving at the room, she hears the faint noises of puppies barking. As Owen opens the door he mentions: “Studies have shown that petting a dog can actually lower blood pressure. And they can make a really crappy day a lot less crappy.”

Amelia, overjoyed with emotion can think of doing one thing at this moment. And that is showing her appreciation for Owen.

He’s one step ahead of her though, because when she turns to face him, he’s already planned for them to share a passionate but sweet kiss.

Amelia was very glad that this quick week ended on a sweet note.

The next time we see Owen and Amelia together, they are still on a conversation about dogs, but this time, in a different context.

Referring to to their time last night, Amelia excitedly asks Owen: “You should get a dog. You seem like a dog guy.”

To this Owen replies: “I live in a trailer.”

Amelia then inquired Owen’s opinion on this statement: “Yeah, that’s something that we can talk about.”

Owen, not getting where she was headed with that statement says: “You don’t like my trailer?”

Amelia still trying to get to her point replies: “No, sure, but I also like grown-up houses.”

Owen laughs at her response, before continuing the conversation with: “Listen, I was thinking we could have dinner tomorrow? It’s my birthday and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend it with so… ”

Amelia was momentarily stuck on what to say, but after a moment she said: “Tomorrow’s your birthday?” while side bumping him.

Owen clarified her statement: “No, no. It’s next week, so you still have time to buy my gift, but I was thinking we could, you know kick things off with dinner.”

Amelia tuning into what Owen was saying, started to think about what they could have dinner, when an idea popped into her head: “Do you like lobster?”

Owen happily replied: “Love lobster.”

Amelia was happily surprised by his answer. She continued with: “You know how to cook lobster?”

Owen, wanting to impress her with his lack of cooking knowledge: “Sure, you just boil a pot of water and…”

Amelia, trying to grasp what Owen was trying to explain: “Yeah, see. You’re already losing me.”

At that moment, Owen’s pager went off signaling incoming trauma.

Amelia reminds him of their plans: “So, tomorrow night then?”

Owen replies simply with: “Lobster.”

Amelia replies jokingly: “Birthday lobster, which you are cooking.”

“That’s become obvious” Owen replied while smirking.

A couple of hours later, while visiting a patient after a particularly bad outcome, Owen and Riggs began fighting after a comment he said to that patient’s parents. At first, it didn’t bother him, but once he started talking about a certain topic, a person, more specifically Owen’s sister and his former fiancee. Owen could no longer keep silent. Owen and Riggs began to quarrel about who is to blame for Megan’s death. Riggs deliberately brought up the fact that he stopped looking and came back home to Seattle after stopping his search for her. Owen became very defensive and angry. Riggs takes one last jab at Owen mentioning that he should look in a mirror if he needed to find someone to hate.

Needing to get away from Riggs as soon as possible, Owen quickly walked to the nearest on-call room to cool down before heading home to his trailer to prepare for his birthday dinner with Amelia.

After finishing her last surgery of the day, Amelia quickly drove back to Meredith’s house to shower and get dressed. She then drove to the local market to pick up some fresh lobster to cook for dinner.

Upon arriving at Owen’s trailer, Amelia noticed that the string lights were shining beautifully and the inside lights were on, signaling that Owen was home. She walked carefully up the porch stairs to reach the door. She hoped that Owen would hear her coming up the stairs and open the door for her, but he was obviously preoccupied as he didn’t come and open the door. “Happy Birthday!” she said while knocking on the trailer door.

Amelia, now a little worried at this point: “Owen, are you going to let me in? I’m holding a box a creepy squirming lobsters.”

Owen, while opening the door admitted apologetically: “Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear any of your knocking.”

“Owen, it’s completely fine. As long as I can put these lobsters down sometime soon, everything's good.” Amelia laughed while walking into the trailer. She noticed that he had already set the table, with a cream tablecloth, which was perfectly accented with 3 red roses in a vase in the center of the table across from the oven. Amelia smiled and took in her surroundings, she wondered how she got so lucky. She was snapped out of her trance when Owen asked her how to prepare the lobsters before boiling them in water.

Amelia moved over the the countertop to give Owen a lesson in lobster preparation, so that the next time they have lobster together, he can actually make the lobster himself. After a little time and patience, Owen finally got the hang of it. Amelia happily smiled at her accomplishment.

A short time later, dinner was ready. Owen graciously helped Amelia transfer the food from the counter to the table. When all was said and done, Owen grabbed the final touch, candles.

Before either could start eating, Amelia chided in saying: “Today was kind of a rough day for me. I’m glad that I am spending the night with you.”

Owen was surprised to hear that Amelia had a bad day, but was also relieved. He didn’t want to spoil her night by complaining about Riggs. “I had quite the day also, Riggs got on my last nerve today. You wouldn’t believe what he said to me.”

Listening carefully to what he had to say, Amelia was slightly confused as to what he and Riggs were fighting about this time. She didn’t want to pry, but she wanted to know what happened. She began to formulate a question, but before she could say anything, Owen began to explain all about his day starting from the beginning. He talked about the good and the bad. Eventually, he got to the end of his day and Amelia finally found out what he and Riggs had been fighting about. Owen’s sister Megan. Owen had never mentioned anything about even having a sister, but she was glad that he felt comfortable telling her intimate details about his dearly departed sister. They went back and forth telling stories about their day, and eventually they ended dinner talking about their siblings. This brought up many teary but happy memories from the both of them. After realizing that they had been talking for almost 3 hours, they decided to head to bed.

Amelia and Owen ended the night the same way the started the week, together in bed.

#omelia #owelia #owen and amelia #omelia fics #my writing

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